CanAge warns influx of patients large enough to overwhelm its health-care system
In a recent study, the national organization for seniors' advocacy CanAge found that Canada is not equipped to handle the rising prevalence of dementia as its population ages.
Between now and 2050, Canada will experience a significant increase in dementia patients that will strain its healthcare system, according to CanAge's Dementia in Canada research.
Canada is lagging behind other nations in the battle to meet the complex needs of a growing aging population. Age groups 85 and older are currently among those in the country with the strongest growth rates, according to statistics from the 2021 census.
Read more: Canada's aging population has just reached a new milestone
Canadians over 65 currently number over seven million. In most provinces, that equates to one in six citizens.
Therefore, Canada has already attained the milestone of having one-sixth of the world's population who are over 65 by the year 2050. Nearly one in four people live in some provinces.
“Given that the risk of dementia doubles at age 85 to 25 per cent, the window of opportunity to get ahead of an inevitable health care crisis is growing alarmingly slim,” the report reads.
The report comes after the World Health Organization's Global Action Plan on Dementia was published in 2017. Its goal was to inspire a coordinated global strategy to address the anticipated increase in persons suffering from cognitive deterioration.
In an interview with CTV News, Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge, one of Canada's issues is the shortage of geriatricians educated in dementia diagnosis.
Only 2 out of 5 Canadian doctors in 2016 felt adequately trained to oversee community dementia care.
In 2020, there was one pediatrician for every 2,822 children, while there were 327 geriatricians in total, or one for every 20,905 elders.
Read more: How to better serve clients with dementia
Furthermore, Watts said, social supports and other therapies perform best when used in the early stages of dementia.
However, confirming a diagnosis of dementia early on is difficult since there are so few medical professionals in Canada that specialize in geriatrics and cognitive decline, relative to the number of seniors.
Dementia specialists, according to the CanAge report, are frequently concentrated in major urban areas, putting at risk older individuals in remote and rural areas as well as those in other marginalized communities.
“Many people are concerned about getting a formal diagnosis because many people…feel they’re being actively discriminated against. Those feelings are real and based in evidence,” Tamblyn Watts said.
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